Anton Hughes has always been mad about barbecues. The former Vic’s Meats chef, who went on to open Newtown favourite Bovine and Swine with a business partner (he's since sold it), has launched the next chapter of his smoking career: .
“Like most people, I started in the backyard with a four-burner with a hood and a little smoking box full of wood chips, and then I realised that’s not really cutting it,” Hughes, who’s sampled plenty of American barbecue in his time, tells SBS. “There wasn’t much online back then – I’m talking 10 years ago when I started to experiment with it – there really wasn’t much available in Australia even in the way of charcoal.
“There’s been a massive revival of charcoal and woodfire cooking in Australia as you’re probably well aware of – not that it ever went away – it just went a bit underground for a while.”
With help from a bunch of hardware including a Texan offset smoker imported from the US, three Webers and a pit barrel cooker, Hughes is applying traditional Texan-style low and slow cooking methods to Australian multicultural flavours. There’s plenty of the usual suspects on hand – brisket, pulled pork, ribs – but also a smattering of Asian, Spanish and Mexican twists.
Traditional American-style cuts like brisket feature alongside vegan options. Source: Hughes Barbecue
“We have a Korean chef with us at the moment who’s brought to the table a few different ideas, like adding kimchi as a side, which is extremely popular and works well with American meats,” he explains, “because you’ve got all that fattiness and the kimchi cuts through and helps break it down with its acidity.”
Hughes is also experimenting with duck, star anise and five-spice on a new creation. “We’re playing with different honey flavours at the moment, trying to develop a nice rub – it’s not going to be Peking duck, it’s not going to be roast duck, it’s going to be something fun and interesting.”
He’s also waiting for the right time to haul in a dedicated vegan smoker – “when the demand requires it”. For the moment, there’s a vegan pulled jackfruit option on offer. “It has the consistency of pulled pork but it’s not pulled pork. So we’re smoking that at the moment but we’d like to do some more vegan flavours in the future.
“But right now, we’re still building a following and trying to steer the locals away from the usual pub-grub type stuff, which is taking a bit of reeducating.”
Hughes Barbecue's vegan pulled jackfruit has the same consistency as pulled pork. Source: Hughes Barbecue
Smoked ice-cream? Tick. It’s being rolled out in flavours like caramel bacon. "Having fun with traditional cooking methods is what’s keeping us enthused," says Hughes.
And from Friday to Sunday, there's live bluegrass and country acts playing, with some "very special gigs" on the horizon. "We can’t divulge much yet, but it's going to be exciting."
is open Tue 12-3pm, 5-8pm; Wed 12-3pm, 5-8:30pm; Thurs-Sat 12-3pm, 5-9pm; Sun 5am-8:30pm
760 Elizabeth St, Waterloo NSW
